Unique cotton-pulp relief with hand-colouring and collage, 1975, on coloured HMP handmade paper, signed, dated and annotated 'T.P' in black ink on the reverse, one of 14 unique colorway trial proofs, aside from the edition of 26, published by Tyler Graphics Ltd, Bedford Village, New York, 63.6 x 52.7 x 4 cm. (25 x 20 3/4 x 1 5/8 in.)

The series ‘Paper Reliefs’ is based on the earlier ‘Polish Village Series’ (1971-73) with the use of relief elements to create the geometric structures which pay homage to the complex architecture of Soviet and Polish wooden synagogues from 16th, 17th and 18th century. The titles of the ‘Paper Reliefs’ are names of cities, settlements or districts where such synagogues were destroyed during the Holocaust. This series is not intended to be a memorial but rather a celebration of these beautiful, intricate structures and the skilful carpentry of the Jewish architects and craftsmen.

Stella and Master Printmaker, Ken Tyler of Tyler Graphics Ltd., collaborated with paper making experts John and Kathleen Koller to make these groundbreaking reliefs. After the paper pulp was applied to the specific mould, Stella would work with the moulded paper reliefs whilst still wet to hand-colour the paper with dye, colour pulp and dry pigments. Once dry, he then hand-painted the geometric shapes within each of the 183 reliefs using acrylic, watercolour and metallic paints.

Named after a town in the Grodno region of Belarus, ‘Lunna Wola (V)’, is a key part of the ‘Paper Reliefs’ series.